The race for the presidential nomination in the US is heating up. While John McCain seems to have secured his nomination for the Republican Party, the battle on the Democratic side is not subsiding, and the Obama-Clinton rivalry is likely to continue for a few more weeks. What after that?
Regardless of what happens over the weeks to come, Barack Obama is the center of all debate and attention currently going on in the United States as well as the world. For many, he is the surprise of the election race. A few months ago, very few people had expected Obama to do as well as he did. Super Tuesday was not super after all for either Clinton or Obama, but the fact that Obama did not fall behind and in fact made new gains last week has certainly raised his chances.
One way to tell who is generating more excitement in the race is to look at the stories, mostly fabricated and imaginary, told about the candidates. There are tens of such stories about Obama whereas Hillary seems to have a long dull moment in her campaign. Obama’s Muslim past, his “training in a madrasah” in Indonesia (Oh my God! Our presidential hopeful attended a “madrasah,” that horrible place that produces all the anti-American terrorists in the world!), his connection to his Muslim relatives in Kenya, his going to Friday prayers at a local mosque, people comparing him to John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Malcolm X and finally Nobel Laureate Doris Lessing’s shocking claim that Obama could be assassinated if he becomes president.
Much of this can be dismissed as hearsay, fantasy, gossip, smear campaigning, etc. But the fact is that Obama is generating more excitement and interest than any other candidate. McCain, though somewhat unorthodox within the Republican power elite, is too old and predictable to get the attention of non-Republicans. Hillary Clinton seems to have lost the lead in the campaign in terms of finance (she used up all of her money, began to spend from her own pocket and is still hanging on the cliff), popular support and media attention. She even seems to have lost her confidence for winning the race against Obama and then against McCain.
There is no consensus to explain Obama’s success so far. His personal qualities certainly do matter. His campaign has mobilized more people and especially the youth than any other candidate in recent memory. His message is clear and seems to have struck a cord across the different classes and groups of American society. Perhaps the most important factor is Obama’s ability to overcome race while remaining black and truly African-American. I say “truly” because his connection to Africa is direct and very clear. He has no qualms about this, and this is what makes him more appealing to millions of Americans of similar history.
In the middle of all this a letter began to make its rounds on the Internet. The letter is titled “Letter from Barack Obama on His Muslim Heritage.” It talks about Obama’s Muslim past, his connection, or rather, disconnection, to the religion of Islam and his father. “It is true that I have a name that is common amongst Kenyan Muslims where my father came from and that my middle name is Hussein. Barack is a name which means ‘blessing’ and Hussein is a masculine form of the word beauty. Since there is nothing inherently wrong with the concept of blessings from God and the beauty He creates I fail to see the problem with these names. Some will say wouldn’t it be a problem to have a president with a name similar to the deposed and executed former dictator of Iraq? My answer to this is simply no; rather, it is the strength and beauty of America that the son of an African man with a ‘funny sounding’ name, born under British Colonial Rule, can now be a serious candidate for the presidency of the United States.” The letter goes on to explain Obama’s years at Columbia and Harvard when he became acquainted with Muslims again. It talks about Obama’s affection for his Muslim relatives in Kenya. And the letter ends with the following: “I will deal wit